It is known to produce nucleotides or polynucleotides which are radioactively labeled, such as with isotopes or hydrogen (.sup.3 H), phosphorus (.sup.32 p), carbon (.sup.14 C) or iodine (.sup.125 I). Such radioactively labeled compounds are useful to detect, monitor, localize and isolate nucleic acids and other molecules of scientific or clinical interest. Unfortunately, however, the use of radioactively labeled materials presents hazards due to radiation. Also due to the relatively short half life of the radioactive materials employed to label such compounds or materials, the resulting labeled compounds or materials have a corresponding relatively short shelf life.
It has been proposed to chemically label compounds of interest, such as nucleotides and polynucleotides, so as to overcome or avoid the hazards and difficulties associated with such compounds or materials when radioactively labeled. In the article by P. R. Langer, A. A. Waldrop and D. C. Ward entitled "Enzymatic Synthesis of Biotin-Labeled Polynucleotides: Novel Nucleic Acid Affinity Probes", in Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, Vol. 78, No. 11, pp. 6633-6637, November, 1981, there are described analogs of dUTP and UTP that contain a biotin molecule bound to the C-5 position of the pyrimidine ring through an alkylamine linker arm. The biotin-labeled nucleotides are efficient substrates for a variety of DNA and RNA polymerases in vitro. Polynucleotides containing low levels of biotin substitution (50 molecules or fewer per kilobase) have denaturation, reassociation and hybridization characteristics similar to those of unsubstituted controls. Biotin-labeled polynucleotides, both single and double stranded, are selectively and quantitatively retained on avidin-Sepharose, even after extensive washing with 8M urea, 6M guanidine hydrochloride or 99% formamide. In addition, biotin-labeled nucleotides can be selectively immunoprecipitated in the presence of antibiotin antibody and Staphylococcus aurea, Protein A. These unique features of biotin-labeled polynucleotides suggest that they are useful affinity probes for the detection and isolation of specific DNA and RNA sequences. It is indicated in the article that the subject matter of the article is comprised in a pending U.S. patent application.
The disclosures of this article and above-referred pending patent application are herein incorporated and made part of this disclosure.
The patent application referred to in the above-identified article in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 255,223 filed Apr. 17, 1981. Ser. No. 255,223 was abandoned in favor of continuation application, U.S. application Ser. No. 496,915, filed on May 23, 1983, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,955. Therefore, the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,955 is herein incorporated by reference and made part of the instant disclosure. The disclosures of this pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 255,223 are herein incorporated and made part of this disclosure. In the above-identified pending U.S. patent application the subject matter of the above-identified article is disclosed and additionally it is disclosed that compounds having the structure: ##STR1## wherein B represents a purine, deazapurine, or pyrimidine moiety covalently bonded to the C.sup.1 -position of the sugar moiety, provided that when B is purine or 7-deazapurine, it is attached at the N.sup.9 -position of the purine or deazapurine, and when B is pyrimidine, it is attached at the N.sup.1 -position;
wherein A represents a moiety consisting of at least three carbon atoms which is capable of forming a detectable complex with a polypeptide when the compound is incorporated into a double-stranded ribonucleic acid, deoxyribonucleic acid duplex, or DNA-RNA hybrid;
wherein the dotted line represents a chemical linkage joining B and A, provided that if B is purine the linkage is attached to the 8-position of the purine, if B is 7-deazapurine, the linkage is attached to the 7-position of the deazapurine, and if B is pyrimidine, the linkage is attached to the 5-position of the pyrimidine; and
wherein each of x, y, and z represents ##STR2## are widely useful as probes in biomedical research and recombinant DNA technology.
Particularly useful are compounds emcompassed within this structure which additionally have one or more of the following characteristics: A is non-aromatic; A is at least C.sub.5 ; the chemical linkage joining B and A includes an .alpha.-olefinic bond; A is biotin or iminobiotin; and B is a pyrimidine or 7-deazapurine.
The publications cited in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,955 are also herein incorporated and made part of this disclosure.